“He’s down a lot,” said his father Pete on Thursday evening, when reached in Binghamton. N.Y. “It was a shock to him.”

A few hours earlier, the soon-to-be 20-year-old winger was assigned to the Ontario Hockey League Rangers by the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Five goals and nine assists in 41 American Hockey League games with the Toronto Marlies wasn’t enough.

The RPI freshman standout, who signed with Toronto last summer, thought he was in the pros to stay after leaving college after one year. He thought wrong.

When D’Amigo dined with his father on Wednesday night in Binghamton, his dad reminded him the Leafs could still send him to junior until Feb. 10.

D’Amigo believed he was out of danger.

“That’s over,” D’Amigo told his father.

On Thursday, as he drove to Toronto to rejoin the Marlies, the two-time U.S. world junior winger was told to pack up his stuff and head to the Aud where the Rangers play Plymouth on Friday. The Rangers drafted his OHL rights in 2007.

The Aud is not his preferred destination.

“I’ve heard great things about Kitchener but Jerry didn’t leave RPI to go to Kitchener,” said Pete D’Amigo, an engineer who designs aircraft simulators. “He left to sign a contract to play for the Maple Leafs, for the Marlies.”

Pete D’Amigo believes his son was developing well with the Marlies. He also had two shootout-winners as the youngest player on the team.

“He was definitely holding his own,” he said. “I think Jerry really answered the call. He was a big part of that team.They were in the thick of things for a playoff run. Being one step away from the NHL, I think, in his mind, he felt that, with a lot of the callups that were happening, it was just a matter of time for him to get his shot.”

Instead, D’Amigo was told to go play with juniors.

“Jerry’s a better man than me,” his father said. “He’ll deal with this.”

And what can Rangers fans expect from D’Amigo?

“He’s not the offensive juggernaut that the world junior number of (2010) showed. He takes advantages of his situation. When he’s put in a good situation with great players, he makes those players better. That’s his M-O. He’s not the guy who’s going to take the team on his back himself. He’s going to make other people better.”